Criminal charges in Tim Piazza case narrow to five defendants

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - With the second anniversary approaching of Timothy Piazza's death after a Penn State fraternity hazing, the criminal cases associated with the incident are winding down.

At one point, 28 members of the now-shuttered Beta Theta Pi house faced criminal charges after Piazza, a 19-year-old engineering student from Readington and graduate of Hunterdon Central Regional High School, died after hazing of new members.

After a string of guilty pleas, only five defendants are fighting charges in the case that has been whittled down as prosecutors were unable to get the most serious counts to stick.

“The issue is whether there has been a full measure of justice,” Tom Kline, the lawyer for the Piazza family, told the Associated Press. “And that judgment will certainly be reserved until the entire criminal process plays out with all of the defendants.”

Kline explained that Jim and Evelyn Piazza view what happened as “a case of collective, reckless conduct” and recognize that the dismissal or withdrawal of some charges is not unusual in criminal cases.

The Piazza family have already settled a civil lawsuit with the fraternity and Kline said he expects the family to file other lawsuits against the defendants who have admitted criminal culpability.

By now, 14 fraternity members have pleaded guilty to comparatively minor charges, mostly alcohol- or hazing-related offenses, and a 15th has a plea hearing on the court schedule for this week.

Those sentenced so far generally have been placed on received probation and ordered to perform community service. Six others have entered a state program designed for first-time, nonviolent offenders that will likely leave them without criminal records. And two former defendants no longer face any charges.

The most serious criminal charges — several had included involuntary manslaughter and felony aggravated assault — have been dismissed. Prosecutors had difficulty getting them approved by judges during preliminary hearings.

The five defendants still facing charges are the fraternity’s president and its pledge master at the time, a fraternity house manager accused of deleting footage from the house’s elaborate video security system, and two other members.

Brendan Young, the chapter president, and Daniel Casey, the pledge master, had been expected to go on trial in April on charges that include reckless endangerment, hazing and alcohol violations. But state prosecutors are now appealing a judge’s order that evidence taken from their cellphones may not be used.

Tim Piazza was 19 when he died at a hospital Feb. 4, 2017, two days after a drinking party at the fraternity house. Security cameras recorded Piazza drinking vodka and beer, struggling throughout the night and falling multiple times. At one point, while he was on a couch, fraternity members put a backpack full of books on his back to keep him from rolling over and choking on his vomit, the report said.

A grand jury report issued a few months later concluded that fraternity members ignored clear signs that Piazza was in trouble, then later engaged in a vigorous effort to conceal evidence of hazing and underage drinking.

Investigators concluded Piazza had at least 18 drinks over 90 minutes. The security system recorded much of what happened before and after he fell down a set of basement steps, had to be carried back upstairs, and spent the evening and ensuing night on a first-floor couch, exhibiting obvious signs of severe pain.